National Team manager praises Arsenal star who has ‘developed’ well under Mikel Arteta

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Arsenal summer signing Kai Havertz took a long time to settle at the Emirates, but he is now thriving under Mikel Arteta.

Havertz arrived to a lot of scepticism after struggling at Chelsea, and continued to falter during the first half of this season.

His lack of a defined position meant that he was even trialled as a left-back for the German National Team earlier this season, in what was an ultimately unsuccessful experiment.

However, in recent months he has thrived as a centre-forward for Arsenal, with six goals and assists in his last four Premier League appearances.

Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann has now praised Havertz for the way he has improved since the last time he featured for his National Team.

Julian Nagelsmann praises Kai Havertz after Arsenal improvement

Speaking in a press conference ahead of a friendly against France, Nagelsmann confirmed that Havertz would play as a striker for Germany, having found success in the position for Arsenal.

“(Havertz) has developed very well, he has a lot of recognition from the coach and the club,” he stated.

“I think very highly of him as a player and as a person. He will start against France upfront, which he did six times for Arsenal. He has good deep runs and very good pace.”

Kai Havertz is better upfront than anywhere else

Havertz featured in midfield for Arsenal and in defence for Germany at times this season, but faced problems in both positions, which he has since eradicated by moving to a striker role.

His movement causes problems for opposition defenders, and he provides a lot of physicality with his aerial threat in the box.

A big problem he faced in midfield was his lack of ability to progress the ball like Granit Xhaka did last season, but moving upfront has negated this problem.

Havertz’s endeavour to improve has now seen him earn a starting spot for Arsenal, and possibly a starting spot at the EUROs for Germany, and given his tough start to life at the Emirates, this level of improvement deserves a lot of credit.

The 24-year-old has now scored nine and provided three assists in 39 games across all competitions, with over half of these goal contributions coming when deployed as a centre-forward.